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When you can’t fall asleepbecause you’re too stressed, counting sheep might not be enough. Instead, experts suggest a simple mental trick that can quiet even the busiest thoughts. They know because they use it themselves.
The technique is called “cognitive shuffling,” and it’s a mental exercise that gives your brain something neutral and mildly engaging to focus on, so it can drift toward sleep instead of churning. Here’s what to know—and how to tell if it might work for you.
Here’s how it works: Once you go to bed—following your normal routine—pick a word that doesn’t carry much meaning to you and is five to 12 letters long. “The word should be emotionally neutral, so not something tied to stress or strong feelings,” says Patricia B. Pedreira, a health psychologist and postdoctoral associate at Duke University Medical Center who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine. “We want to avoid words like ‘money’ or ‘deadline’ or anything that might trigger worry chains.” Some of her favorites: blanket, garden, bedtime, and kitchen.
With your word in hand, work through it letter by letter, generating as many unrelated words as you can think of for each one. For example, if you chose “bedtime,” your shuffling might look like this: B: butterfly, basket, bagel. E: envelope, Egypt, emerald. (In practice, you’d keep going until you run out of ideas.) “The key is keeping them unrelated,” Pedreira says. “If your brain starts making connections or building a story, it defeats the purpose.”
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time.com
The technique is called “cognitive shuffling,” and it’s a mental exercise that gives your brain something neutral and mildly engaging to focus on, so it can drift toward sleep instead of churning. Here’s what to know—and how to tell if it might work for you.
What is cognitive shuffling?
The concept was introduced more than a decade ago by Dr. Luc Beaudoin, a cognitive scientist, who was initially inspired by his own struggles with insomnia.Here’s how it works: Once you go to bed—following your normal routine—pick a word that doesn’t carry much meaning to you and is five to 12 letters long. “The word should be emotionally neutral, so not something tied to stress or strong feelings,” says Patricia B. Pedreira, a health psychologist and postdoctoral associate at Duke University Medical Center who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine. “We want to avoid words like ‘money’ or ‘deadline’ or anything that might trigger worry chains.” Some of her favorites: blanket, garden, bedtime, and kitchen.
With your word in hand, work through it letter by letter, generating as many unrelated words as you can think of for each one. For example, if you chose “bedtime,” your shuffling might look like this: B: butterfly, basket, bagel. E: envelope, Egypt, emerald. (In practice, you’d keep going until you run out of ideas.) “The key is keeping them unrelated,” Pedreira says. “If your brain starts making connections or building a story, it defeats the purpose.”
Continued below.
The Sleep Trick That Actually Quiets a Racing Mind
Forget counting sheep. Try 'cognitive shuffling' instead.
time.com
